The Super Bowl is Sunday. It is a big deal for football, entertainment, advertising and Saints fans. If you enjoy the NFL, thank Steve Sabol. His stories created it.
Sabol is 67 now. He became famous by turning football into art (according to Joe Posnanski in Sports Illustrated his week). It is a great story if you haven’t read it in the Scorecard section.
Sabol put cameras at every angle, shot super slo-mo, put microphones on coaches, hired John Facenda to be “the voice of God,” and hired former music school teacher, Sam Spence, to create music that made the sport feel like a noble act of war.
Joe Namath jogging off the field pointing to the sky claiming a championship. Sabol shot it. Dick Butkus’s muddy hands. Sabol shot it. Steam coming from Ray Nitschke’s mouth. Sabol shot it. Franco Harris’s Immaculate Reception. Yep, Sabol.
Every famous moment we remember from the NFL is in our memories because Sabol put them there. ESPN may be in business because Sabol created the genre. So when you watch the Saints and the Colts and the Who on Sunday, think about Steve Sabol and NFL Films.
Then, for just a few moments, remember Tom Brookshire, who died last week at 78 from cancer. The former Philadelphia Eagle All-Pro became even more famous for his insights as he sat in a TV booth for hundreds of games with partner Pat Summerall telling us about this game we have come to treat like royalty. In case you are under 35 years old, John Madden replaced Brookshire in 1981. Some of us remember those days. But it is a game, after all. Sabol and Brookshire just made it seem a hell of a lot more important.
